The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of pear tree, botanically known as Pyrus communis L. of the Rosaceae family, and hereinafter referred to by the variety denomination ‘PE4UNIBO’.
The new Pyrus variety is a product of a controlled breeding program conducted by the inventors, Stefano Musacchi, Silviero Sansavini and Vincenzo Ancarani, in Cadriano (Bologna), Italy. The variety is fully owned by Alma Mater Studiorum—Università di Bologna. The objective of the breeding program was to develop a new Pyrus variety with high fruit quality, attractive fruit with red over-color and long storability in cold room.
The new Pyrus variety originated from a cross made by the inventors in 1992 in Cadriano (Bologna), Italy. The female or seed parent is the Pyrus communis L. variety designated ‘Abbé Fétel’ (unpatented). The male or pollen parent is the Pyrus communis L. variety designated ‘Cascade’ (unpatented). The new Pyrus variety was discovered and selected by the inventors within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in 2003 in Cadriano (Bologna), Italy.
Asexual reproduction of the new Pyrus variety by budding and grafting was first performed in August 2003 in Cadriano (Bologna), Italy, and has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for the new variety are firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction. The new variety reproduces true to type.